Created by Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Starring Rebecca Breeds, Michael Cudlitz
Thursdays at 10PM on CBS

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“You got the gold in manipulation.” 

Clarice took a break for a few weeks, but it’s firmly back in the saddle. Which, as someone who is very invested in the characters and story that showrunner Elizabeth Klaviter is cultivating, is an extremely exciting prospect for the last stretch of this first season. 

Something I’ve always admired about Harris’s original Lecter novels, but especially from the adaptations of them, is the emphasis that gets put on therapy. The films don’t go into this quite as hard, in terms of having the lead sit down and do some (despite everyone needing it in them), but both shows that have come from Lecter’s world have made it a big part of their entire thing.

All of which is to say that Clarice undergoes hypnosis in this episode and it really works with the time period and visual storytelling of the series. We’re introduced to Dr. Li, a doctor who gets called in to help Clarice try and remember the face of the man who attacked her at the facility with Dr. Felker. Except that the man’s face is clouded by Jame Gumb’s. Clarice is still running away from any hope of dealing with her trauma from the Buffalo Bill case, and it’s fully starting to mess with her VICAP work in a big way. 

However, the most interesting part of the recent episode is, unsurprisingly, the part where Clarice goes to the Martin house for dinner. It’s at Ruth’s request, following Clarice being put on leave after her trauma with Dr. Felker. Clarice goes to her because she’s desperate to get back in the field with the rest of VICAP (and Ardelia). And, in that desperation, she is forced to confront her fears of seeing Catherine Martin again - of having to interact with her funhouse mirror self in person.

Clarice has this preconceived notion of who Catherine is now, and who Ruth is because of what happened to her daughter. Her contact with Catherine has been so limited up to this point, by Clarice’s own design, that to come face-to-face with the reality of the situation seems to knock something loose in her. Catherine talks to her about moments Clarice has simply blocked out of her mind - the moments between killing Gumb and actually saving Catherine from the well. She becomes acutely aware of how much she was hiding away to make herself functional. 

But it isn’t until Clarice sees the relationship Ruth has with her daughter, this broken and fragile thing that’s been manipulated all to hell by both of them, that she realizes she’s being used as a tool against Catherine. Clarice is fine… why can’t you be. Except everyone knows that Clarice is anything but fine. Eventually, Clarice goes back to Dr. Li and she has the doctor hypnotise her again to see if Catherine was correct about the memories that Clarice was hiding. And it works. Clarice finally has a clear picture of the man in her head, but no clue who he is. 

The series is also letting itself delve a little deeper into Krendler’s family life (we actually see his kids in this episode) and how his divorce is going (not good!) - which makes sense given who the man pulling all the conspiracy strings actually is. By giving us more of Krendler’s home life, the show is really underscoring how what he and Clarice are going through are similar. How the ways they’re being manipulated rhyme, even if they’re different. If they were not working together in VICAP, there’s no doubt that their paths would cross rather spectacularly. Clarice’s story is as tied to Krendler, with the red string of fate, as it is to Catherine. There’s no pulling the three of them apart. 

So, the “who” of the conspiracy is coming into focus, even if the “why” hasn’t quite made it there yet. I, for one, am excited to see what the answers are and how everyone from Krendler to Clarice reacts as the pieces unfold in front of them. I’m also curious if this particular mystery will wrap itself up by the end of the finale, or if it will leave itself open for a season two to expand upon it.